Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Relaxing Travel Experience

Who was I kidding? I got re-routed from DC to Chicago, had to switch airlines only to find out that the flight to Cleveland was full. Could have been worse. Luckily, I'm in an awesome city staying at my cousin's apartment and going to the museum before I fly out to Cleveland.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Flying Out to Pennsylvania

I had the bright idea to plan an impromptu trip to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and after a frustrating ordeal of trying to get friends to go for the drive out, I ended up saving my sanity by buying a pricey plane ticket.

Admittedly, I was pretty grumpy about a road trip (sorry, pals) as the idea of a long drive seemed oddly unattractive. This could be due to having spent much of my time on vacations driving to the destination and I'm a bit burnt out. Though usually once I'm on the road the lovely landscape of rural America, and playing roulette with my iPod (there are six different playlist I listen to while in the car) I usually begin to settle right in to the ten hour car ride.

Flying out seemed more comforting to me. I was thrilled to see that there were still some flights available even if I have to leave at eleven at night and return at six in the morning. The idea of visiting with friends and family is worth it and frankly, well-needed, but I actually expected a bit more for the price point. Thank you my friends, for your generosity and the wonderful offer to drive out with you! But I'm still looking for a relaxing-style travel experience and this time around in involves me flying.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Drink- Four Points, Boston

As evidence by their kabillion five stars it has received, the wonderfulness of Drink has not been lost to drink reviewers. I found myself sipping on cocktails made by bartenders dressed in fedoras, tweed, and suspenders and look more like a team of 1930's reporters than bartenders. And, oh yes, does this team really know their shtick.

At Drink you will find beverages made with the best kept secrets of mixology, here revealed: homemade bitters (including chocolate mole), freshly picked herbs, squeezed citrus (which I was told gets squeezed a lot on Fridays and Saturdays). There is plenty of bar and table seating. The bar wraps around the bartender so you can watch them while they shake their little hearts out and pour you somewhat of a fickle drink of cleverly layered flavors.

The staff adds to the experience, solid suggestions of what you should drink, the fact that they never seem to be scurrying you out is a relief at a place with such abundance of choices. If you get lost in making a decision, they will patiently suggest drinks based on what you might be in the mood for tasting. "I would like something bright and asparagus please...and make it with bourbon!" And what you will get? A well-made, handsome, thought provoking drink.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Malcolm Gladwell, Eclectic Detective

In this article Steven Pinker writes a review on Malcolm Gladwell's book "What The Dog Saw."

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Friday, November 6, 2009

Another Inconvient Truth

Al Gore speaks about his new book Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Global Climate Crisis at Harvard Bookstore.

Notes from "Practical Tips on How to get Published"

On panel:

Boston Review is a bi-monthly, general interest magazine with lots of space for poetry,
idea pieces, investigative journalism articles. Always taking in new writers.

Plough Shares Literary Review send in paper submission, not folded, paperclip.

Harvard Review- Publishes twice a year. Committed to publishing beginners and student writers.

Pitching- A literary review has a lot of readers. These readers are usually post grads or working currently on their MFA.
A lot of good stuff gets rejected.
If you get a rejection letter that says send more writing then send more!

Newpages.com = list of just about every journal.

Length of online journal 500-1400 words.

If you are a serious writer most get as much experience possible by writing in as many genres and get published in many different periodicals.

Query Letters-
Try to promote yourself
Be very honest about accomplishments and be polite
Make it as easy as possible for your readers to get you
Be clean
Demonstrate familiarity with publication
Pay attention to when editors change
Everyone loves to discover unpublished writer
Since for a literary review your submitting your work just needs to be short and simple
First line say what piece is poetry, book review, short fiction etc.
Date the letter
Never staple use paperclips
Address and contact info.
Do tell if you are a grad student

Follow-up if you haven't heard back in three or four months

Most importantly literary reviews are looking for a high level of control in writing.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Old Halloween Picture

My best pal Katie and I from 2003?
Photobucket

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

A Year Ago Today...

I flew back to the US from backpacking for three months visiting 24 countries in Europe. The day this picture was taken, I took a five hour train ride to see the Matterhorn. Unfortunately, the clouds covered up the mammoth mountain and instead of seeing just buildings in the background there would have been a gorgeous peak. It was taken towards the last leg of my travels. While this photo shows a tired and disappointed me, seeing this reminds me that I accomplished one of my dreams that I had never thought would be possible. For this reason it is my favorite picture.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

School Lunch

Friday I am going to a elementary school in Somerville to have lunch with kids and talk to the principal about what kids like and don't like to eat. I hope it's pizza Friday!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Halloween Pictures

Here's some pictures from Halloween in Salem, MA and the masquerade ball, Click Here